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colleagues work-environment work-experience privacy company

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February 18, 2025 Score: 39 Rep: 140,094 Quality: Expert Completeness: 50%

Today I realized that I can see my colleagues’ Google passwords in my Google password manager.

Something must have gone seriously wrong there. Did you perhaps used your colleague's Chrome profile when you accessed the password manager? I have my partner's profile on my browser as well and I can easily switch back and forth between the two without having to login again.

Can that employee see my passwords as well?

Hard to tell without knowing why you are seeing theirs.

And can my organization also see and access my passwords and personal information?

Yes. Anything you do and store on a work computer is property of the company and they typically have management tools to access this. If you are not comfortable with this, don't do anything personal on a work computer.

What to do ?

Be open and honest with everyone. Proactively disclose.

  1. Inform your IT department (in writing to have a paper trail) and ask for guidance. That shouldn't have happened and they may investigate the root cause. Ask them for guidance.
  2. Insist that your new work laptop gets "wiped", i.e. all data gets completely erased, the operating system gets re-installed and all required apps get a fresh install. That's standard practice and they should have done that in the first place.
  3. Talk to your colleague. Let them know what you saw and what you did. Ask them whether they see any of your information. Discuss how the two of you want to proceed
  4. In all likelihood both of you will end up having to change a lot of your personal passwords.
February 18, 2025 Score: 2 Rep: 49,615 Quality: Low Completeness: 20%

Chrome has a facility for multiple profiles, attached to multiple Google accounts. Your IT administrator didn't give you a clean computer, and your colleague's Google profile was still attached to Chrome. That's why you were seeing the passwords.

If you attach your personal profile to Chrome on the work computer DO NOT sync your passwords and bookmarks, and DO NOT use Google password manager. There is an option to turn these off. Keep your overall personal imprint on the work laptop to a minimum, because you may have to return it at a moment's notice. It's really, really not worth the hassle you may face.

This isn't even something that you need to report.

February 18, 2025 Score: 1 Rep: 5,091 Quality: Low Completeness: 10%

If your colleague is using the same Google account, then you both will see each other passwords.

Most likely you can see your colleague's passwords because they used the laptop before you.

If you want to do the right thing, then clear out the passwords in

Passwords and Autofill -> Google Password Manager

February 20, 2025 Score: 1 Rep: 6,179 Quality: Low Completeness: 30%

Your questions

(from a cybersecurity perspective)

Can that employee see my passwords as well?

If you signed in with your Google account - no. Otherwise - maybe. Sign off the Google account in Chrome and do not sign in.

Can my organization also see and access my passwords and personal information?

If you are not sure assume that this is the case. The answer depends on many criteria, legal and technological. Best case they cannot (because they are not allowed to, or they do not have the technical abilities). Worst case that can (Black Mirror style).

The core issue

I realized that I can see my colleagues’ Google passwords in my Google password manager

This is a problem with how the laptops are recycled in the organization. It happens and any sane IT organization will be glad to learn that there is a problem with their process.

You should email or open a ticket explaining what you just witnessed (and note that you did not go any further).

And then wait for someone to be back with you (probably with a new laptop or a reimaging of the one you have). In the meantime do not access the data that is not yours.

All of this is of course dependent on the legal system you are in but is a good baseline of common sense to protect yourself.